Is TM wearing the scarf ffs?

The stats say we win more when he is in the team & on the wing.. But it is still a waste of a player

Williams's what?

Has Chapman bummed TM's dog or what? Strong ish line up. Need to match / beat Stoke's workrate. There is quality on the bench. Let's hope we don't need it

And who needs Sven Goran Eriksson when you can have Brian Kidd ?

Thanks for that, Oldjamfan1 - in my view it was further evidence that we had a proper business set up during those years, which was the key to our ability to 'punch above our weight'. There's a club not far down the M65 who appear to have the model (albeit a six fingered version) in place now. We, in contrast, have the shadows of the past and (relatively for the time being at least) our arses in the air :)!!

I see the Gruaniad (sic) are running a story with the headline: Sven-Göran Eriksson: 'Blackburn let me join Lazio. I thank them every day It is a stark reminder of where we were in the grand scheme of things, how far we have fallen (e.g. worrying about dropping points at Brentford) and what might have been... Click the link, bask in the reflected glory of those glory - glory - Sven Gory days... and weep ;)..........

Apart from the Notts Forest scoreline (1 up at Cardiff) everything is going Rovers' way - even the Forest score works in our favour as it thins out the chasing pack. Like I said earlier, c'mon Rovers, make my day! Stoke are fighting for their lives though... its gonna be edgy!

The next two games are the 'acid test' of our playoff credentials and desire. As with anything else in life, we can't let whatever is happening with rivals be of any consequence, and we need to demonstrate for our own good that we have what it takes. What I want to see is desire, belief, energy and commitment from the team, from selection (TM's input) to quality and hard graft on the pitch. I think we have somehow stumbled onto an effective formula, but am conscious that the word 'stumble' is unfortunately too often associated with the boys in blue and white, particularly when the pressure is on. I'd love to be proven wrong, and have been here many times (since the days of Jim Iley, Bobby Saxton, Howard Kendall and so on) so understand the feeling of being close but not close enough!! COYB!

True that - he is a local geordie boy after all (he played in the same Kingston Park side as my lad, when they were both nippers, although he didn't stand out as anything back then)..

I liked the spirit shown midway in the half when Bell was challenging for the ball on the half way line and got tangled up with their player, who got the foul. Johnson came over to separate the players and practically rode the fellow who got the foul - quite undignified and demeaning, but in a dominant kind of way from Johnno. Top work!

Good save Christian Walton

Bollocks,, bennett on...

C'mon Ben - give it a right good go

Brereton on

It looked like Samuel caught the Charlton lad on the shoulder whilst going past, before being hauled to the ground. Lots of refs give the benefit of the doubt to the defending side.

Very quiet on here today - I guess the usual suspects are on the coach down to the smoke... What time is Denis expected to storm into sarf london ? Looking forward to team news and updates from the valley

Lol

You guys got lucky in August, and Rovers are just unpredictable at the moment, so my best guess is that it will be a narrow victory for football tomorrow. If Rovers set up like we did on Tuesday evening in the icy north, then it could be very interesting. If we set up like we did against Sheff Weds, then it might be a case of who scores first gets the cricket score. I'm solidly with you on this one though - may the best team win!

Please can you stay in the kitchen for the rest of the season??

It certainly has that ring about it... Hoping that somehow Rovers come good, or at least if not good, then better than the bottom of the form table team, under atrocious conditions. Bring it on maaaaaaannn....

Tough call today. Expecting there to be the inevitable problems due to lack of quality through injuries. It is a challenge for TM and the team, especially as Fulham have quality in spades, so they should be capable of running over us. However football isn't a rational sport with nailed on certainties, especially in this division...I'm going for a hard fought reverse this afternoon, with Fulham picking us off once in each half, with a huff and puff late consolation for us.. 1-2 But,COYB of course!

Please can someone tell the manager

Going to go pessimistic on this one (as it seems to correlate with a decent performance).. 1-2 Fulham after we race into a 1-0 lead within 12 minutes. End of game stats: Possession 31% / 69%; shots on target 1 / 9; shots 3 / 17; percentage of pissed off supporters 83% / 12%; after-match platitudes & cliches from manager 47 / 2; chances of playoffs or better 11% / nailed on...

Yeah, like that would ever happen in our world where Tony and Tesco know best.